Romans 6:1-23 The Freedom of God

It is at times like these, around America’s patriotic holidays, that I need a reminder of what it means to be a member of the church. Ray Boltz, a Christian musician, has a song that provides just such a reminder. In the chorus, he boldly proclaims:

“I pledge allegiance to the lamb, with all my strength, with all I am. I will seek to honor his commands. I pledge allegiance to the lamb.”

This is not the pledge our children recite in schools, nor is it the proclamation we heard at Independence Day celebrations this weekend. But it should be our proclamation as members of the body of Christ.

Now I do not think that we should hate America, or even that we should necessarily disobey its rules. A little later in the letter to the Romans, Paul will tell the churches to obey their earthly authorities because they also have been appointed by God. But our obedience and allegiance is first and foremost to Christ.

In the first years after the crucifixion, Christians started to be persecuted, first by zealous Jews like Paul, and then by Roman authorities who viewed Christianity as sedition, a horrible crime in their eyes. The Romans were actually correct. Jesus is politically threatening. He calls people to follow him above family, friends, job, and country. The people who follow Jesus are ruled by his blood and their obedience to him, before, and at times instead of, obedience to government officials. So the Romans were actually correct when they realized that the Christians would not give their ultimate allegiance to Rome.

In our Christian history, we have the stories of the martyrs – those Christians who stood by their proclamation of faith in God even when it cost them their lives. There are people like the Bishop Polycarp, who faithfully strengthened his churches when he was being led to his death. Even when he was given multiple chances to deny being a Christian, Polycarp always stood strong until he was finally led into the arena to be killed by wild animals. Polycarp had one choice to make to save his life from the Romans by denying Christ, or to follow Jesus in obedience even to his death.

Justin Martyr was an apologist who tried to convince the Romans to stop condemning Christians for their faith. He explained that Christians were good Roman citizens who followed the laws, cared for the sick, and paid taxes. The one thing that Christians would not do, according to Justin, was offer sacrifices to or worship any god or person besides the God of Jesus Christ. As his name suggests, Justin too was martyred by the Romans.

For all of these martyrs, from the 1^st century until today, obedience to Jesus was the goal of their lives. They had tasted the kingdom of God and were pursuing it no matter what the cost. By the time Paul wrote Romans, he had also known suffering and imprisonment, yet he gives a broader perspective reminding us of the work Christ has done and why we seek to live in holiness and obedience.

In America, we like to think of ourselves as free, and as those who offer freedom to people who are oppressed. Modern society has trained us well to make our own decisions and rely only on ourselves. We think we are free.

But when we have experienced the salvation of God, we learn that we were not really free. In Rom 7, Paul tells us that we were controlled by our sinful natures. Look at verse 14:

¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ as it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

This is who we were. Instead of being free as we thought, we were in bondage and captivity to the powers of sin and death. Paul has many choice phrases for our condition. We were: ruled by sin, mastered by death, obeying evil desires, aroused by sinful passions, and doing what is evil. We are not free. We are in slavery to evil, sin, and death, and we need a redeemer.

Although we were once in slavery to sin and death, we have been set free by the blood of Jesus, and he, the only God, became human and walked the earth among us. He has lived a faithful life where we have fallen short, and then he has been crucified and resurrected on the third day. And we participate in the redemption of Jesus. Look back at chapter 6 verse 3.

“Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵ If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be untied with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Jesus’ death and resurrection are not abstract ideas which seem good. His death and resurrection are not even historical events which happened to Jesus and which we remember. We actually participate in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. As we are baptized, the water symbolizes our death to the old life and our rising to new life in Christ. The Holy Spirit draws us into the life of Christ and into the holiness and faithfulness which are his.

|| If this is who we are, people who participate in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and who are being drawn up into the holiness of Christ, then Paul is right. Our lives are being transformed as we submit ourselves to the authority of Christ. We surrender what we thought was freedom, and we find that we are truly free only as we serve God and surrender to him. Instead of thinking that freedom means having no restrictions, we learn that we gain greater freedom through disciplined obedience. Just as a gymnast gains the freedom to do more difficult flips by the discipline of 5 hour work outs. Just as the pianist gains the freedom to play a Mozart requiem through the discipline of scales and sight-reading. Our discipline in obedience to Christ gives us the freedom to do even greater works for his kingdom as we are drawn further into the holiness of Christ.

As we live in that holiness, our lives are transformed. Our decisions begin to conform to God’s commands as we participate in his grace. We live more like the Sermon on the Mount, forgiving each other, sharing our lives with each other, and helping the weak and poor. We learn to build one another up, making sure that our words and actions are life-giving instead of life-taking, just as Anny spoke of two weeks ago, and we contribute our gifts and talents to the building up of Christ’s body, which is the church.

This disciplined obedience also means that we live in service to him and not anything else. We do not live in service to our jobs or making money. We are not controlled by the demands of style and high society. We are not restricted by a particular location, but are free to follow obediently, like Jared and Catherine. We realize that our families do not belong to us but are gifts from God, given as a trust for us to care for and lead in obedience to Christ. When obedience to Christ does not conflict with these other areas of our lives, then we are free to offer them obedience below our obedience to Christ. But if following Christ conflicts with the other demands on our lives, our obedience to Christ must come first.

As we participate in the work which God is doing, and as all of the areas of our lives are brought into the patter of Christ, we catch a glimpse of why the martyrs would die for Christ and how they would be able to confess Christ even when their lives are threatened.

The martyrs have been baptized with Christ and have died with him. They knew that they would also be raised to new life with Christ. They had surrendered to Christ in obedience and been disciplined in following him in every area of their lives. So when persecutions came, nothing that people could do could take away their love and obedience to Jesus. They would risk losing their jobs instead of taking advantage of a system that rewarded those who denied Jesus. They would lose friends, relatives, and community members who did not approve of their commitment to Christ, but they had gained citizenship in a new kingdom called Heaven, and they lived only as resident aliens in their own countries. They withstood being thrown in prison, knowing that their witness was not for destruction but was used by God for the spreading of the gospel. They even faced death, but they knew that they had already died with Christ, so no earthly being could kill their souls.

Our brother Paul was another of the many saints who have been martyred throughout the ages. He had seen many sufferings, as he recounts for us in 2 Corinthians 11, beginning in the second half of verse 21:

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about – I am speaking like a fool – I also dare to boast about./ Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am i. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus 1. (40 lashes could kill a person, so the Jews, reduced the number by 1.)here times I was beaten with rods (this is the Roman punishment, given out by Roman authorities). Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move, I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own people, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches…….And finally at the end of the list, in chapter 12 verse 9, Paul ends by saying, “The Lord said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul had been so trained in the obedience of his baptism, that all of those sufferings actually became the strength of Christ and spread the news of the gospel, allowing Paul to do even greater work for the kingdom of God.

As we follow the examples of people like Paul, Justin, and Polycarp, and the thousands of other martyrs throughout history, we are drawn into Christ and transformed into obedient children of God. we become people who will live in obedience to Christ no matter what the cost, and giving up our obedience to other things that desire our service and worship. L

As we seek to live into our baptism with Christ, let us today reaffirm our baptismal vows. As the liturgy appears on the screen, I invite you to consider the words you are proclaiming. At the end of the liturgy, there will be time for you to remember your baptism as you come forward to the water, dip your fingers in the bowl, and trace the sign of the cross on your forehead. If you desire either prayer or confession before you approach the waters, please approach Pastor Susan or Pastor Anny on either side of the altar, or feel free to kneel at the front. A video will be playing while you pray.